The 2024 RFL Women's Super League (also known as the Betfred Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the Women's Super League, for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League (RFL).
| 2024 RFL Women's Super League | |
|---|---|
| Duration | 14 rounds + playoffs |
| Teams | 8 |
| Matches played | 56 |
| Points scored | 2,822 |
| Highest attendance | 4,813 (6 October) |
| Lowest attendance | 461 (15 June) |
| Champions | York Valkyrie |
| League Leaders Shield Winners | St Helens |
| Runners-up | St Helens |
| Biggest home win |
|
| Biggest away win |
|
| Top point-scorer(s) | Faye Gaskin (160) |
| Top try-scorer(s) | Leah Burke (28),
Top goal scorer Faye Gaskin (68) |
| Promotion and relegation | |
| Promoted from Championship | Leigh Leopards |
It was the first season following a re-structure of the women's game. The number of clubs in the Super League was reduced from 12 to 8 but playing as one league rather than two groups of six as in 2023. The regular season comprised 14 rounds commencing on 19 April.[1]
The Super League champions were determined after the top four teams played-off to decide which clubs would compete in the Grand Final on 6 October.[2] York Valkyrie retained their title, after narrowly defeating St Helens 18–8 in the final, which saw a record attendance of 4,813 for a Women's Super League grand final.
The club finishing bottom played-off against the winners of the 2024 RFL Women's Championship for a place in the 2025 RFL Women's Super League.[2] This match, which was also played on 6 October,[3] saw Leigh Leopards promoted from the championship, after they won 34–16 against Featherstone Rovers.
Teams
edit
The eight clubs thet competed the 2024 Super League were all from Northern England. The six teams of the 2023 Super League Group A were joined by Barrow and Featherstone who won promotion from the 2023 Group B.
Fixtures and results
editRegular season
editThe season began on 19 April with Leeds Rhinos defeating Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors winning against Barrow Raiders in two Friday night fixtures.[4] Also in the opening weekend St Helens lost to York Valkyrie in what proved to be their only loss throughout the regular season.[5] St Helens secured the top place with a win over Warrington in round 13 and were presented with the League Leaders' Shield the following weekend.[5][6] The teams progressing to the play-offs had been determined by mid August when York's win over Huddersfield Giants opened up a ten-point gap between the top four and the remaining teams with only three rounds to play.[7] Leeds finished second ahead of York who defeated Featherstone Rovers on the final day, but failed to overtake Leeds on points difference.[8] Wigan's loss to Leeds in the penultimate round meant that they finished in fourth place[6] with Barrow taking fifth place.[5] Sixth and seventh place were decided on the final weekend with Huddersfield winning against Warrington. Featherstone, who lost all 14 matches, finished bottom of the table[8] and were relegated following a 34–16 play-off loss to Championship side Leigh Leopards.[9]
Table
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification or relegation[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Helens | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 614 | 88 | +526 | 26 | Advance to semi-finals |
| 2 | Leeds Rhinos | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 528 | 122 | +406 | 22 | |
| 3 | York Valkyrie | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 463 | 118 | +345 | 22 | |
| 4 | Wigan Warriors | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 532 | 144 | +388 | 18 | |
| 5 | Barrow Raiders | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 172 | 432 | −260 | 10 | |
| 6 | Huddersfield Giants | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 204 | 556 | −352 | 8 | |
| 7 | Warrington Wolves | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 96 | 671 | −575 | 6 | |
| 8 | Featherstone Rovers | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 128 | 606 | −478 | 0 | Relegation playoff |
- ^ should teams have the same points difference, then position is decided by points scored percentage (points scored, divided by points conceded, multiplied by 100).
Play-offs
editIn the play-off semi-finals York won 12–10 at Leeds and St Helens defeated Wigan 18–4 to set up the Grand Final on 6 October at the Totally Wicked Stadium.[10] St Helens, who had won the Challenge Cup earlier in the season, hosted the match due to their top place finish in the league,[11] but were unable to the claim a treble when York came back from 8–6 down at halftime to win 18–8 and in doing so become the first team to retain the Super League title.[12] The crowd of 4,813 was a record attendance for a Women's Super League grand final.[13]
Team bracket
edit| Semi-finals | Grand Final | ||||||||
| 2 | Leeds Rhinos | 10 | |||||||
| 3 | York Valkyrie | 12 | |||||||
| 1 | St Helens | 8 | |||||||
| 3 | York Valkyrie | 18 | |||||||
| 1 | St Helens | 18 | |||||||
| 4 | Wigan Warriors | 4 | |||||||
References
edit- ^ "Women's Super League and Challenge Cup 2024 fixtures and kick-off times". Sky Sports. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Betfred Women's Super League 2024 fixtures confirmed". www.therhinos.co.uk. Leeds Rhinos. 24 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ "2024 Women's North Championship fixtures announced". Sheffield Eagles. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ "Women's Super League: Leeds Rhinos and Wigan Warriors win in season openers". BBC Sport. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ a b c "Saints crush Barrow to win shield as Leeds beat Wigan". BBC Sport. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Leeds go second after Saints seal top spot". BBC Sport. 8 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ "York ease past Huddersfield to clinch play-off spot". BBC Sport. 11 August 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ a b "York beat Featherstone to set up Leeds semi-final". BBC Sport. 15 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ "Leigh Leopards beat Rovers to reach Super League". Leigh Journal. 7 October 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ "York and Saints through to women's Grand Final". BBC Sport. 22 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ "Saints target treble in Grand Final against York". BBC Sport. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ "Valkyrie fight back to stun Saints and retain title". BBC Sport. 6 October 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ "Women's Grand Final: Four takeaways as York Valkryie claim second-successive title". Love Rugby League. 6 October 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.